Deleted Scenes From The Transition Hospital
Reviewed by:
Cheeseman Jay, on february 26, 2010 4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Sound: If you read this review as a fan of heavy metal, you, like me, are dubbed by people of a more mainstream disposition to listen to 'scary' music. They are the unenlightened ones. We see metal as the perfect embodiment of masterful musicianship and anger at today's dysfunctional society. We don't get scared. However, I feel I may have found a band that will bring goosebumps to the neck of even the most hardened metalhead. British Industrial Black Metal act The Axis Of Perdition released their sophomore effort (if we don't count their EP from 2004) entitled Deleted Scenes From The Transition Hospital on the 28th of March, 2005. Now, I don't watch many horror movies due to my over-active imagination and general insomnia but I imagine that this band is the audio equivalent to one of the scarier and most atmospheric films out there
01. Deleted Scenes I: In The Hallway Of Crawling Filth: serving suggestions for this song; wait till its night, put this song on, switch out all the lights and sit in the corner. In one song, The Axis Of Perdition define their sound in a more powerful way than some bands do in an entire album. It starts off with what my friend says sounds like an evil Tardis and that's true. Then there's more scary noises and then a man crying before it all kicks off. Don't be afraid of it's length (a rather impressive 10 minutes 38 seconds) as it remains interesting to the death. The thing about this song is it creates an atmosphere so chilling that you can't help but imagine the scene in your head. Some beautiful double bass and general good music throughout, broken up by the somewhat terrifying sound effects. Breathtaking. 10/10
02. Pendulum Prey - The Second Incarnation: as good as the last, this song isn't as reliant on sound effects as the first but the atmosphere remains. It's another long one, lasting just over 9 minutes (the entire album lasts not long under an hour and only consists of 8 tracks). By now, you know this album is going to be an absolute gem. It is actually scary with a man screaming something inaudible around the 5 minute mark. I like the random jazz bit, reminds me of Bioshock. 10/10
03. Deleted Scenes II: In The Gauze Womb Of The God Becoming: I think you'll agree that the song names are a touch on the spontaneous side. Another long one, 12 minutes and 40 seconds. I think it is testimony to the quality of what you hear on the album when I tell you that I'm not normally a fan of long songs that aren't all guitar. For example, when listening to Dream Theater's The Count of Tuscany, I tend to skip some of the 4 minute keyboard solo in the middle. Not on this album. It keeps you captivated from the word go. If you are a person who would like to skip the admittedly weird bit at the beginning, the music kicks in at 7: minutes 48 seconds. The rest is all effects. 8/10
04. The Elevator Beneath The Valve: more sound effects. Is that a boat? It sounds like a foghorn. Oh it's finished. Right. No music in that one. Not disappointed but I was hoping for music somewhere in there. 7/10
05. Isolation Cube 312: the song comes to a terrifying crescendo on the 1 minute 40 mark. There's a bit of growling but once again no music. 8/10
06. This, Then, Is Paradise?: yes! Finally, a straight up Black Metal song. Best song on the album? I think so. Despite the relative lack of sound effects the amazing atmosphere remains. If you listen to one song on the album, listen to this one. 10/10
07. Entangled In Mannequin Limbs: just epic. That's how I would describe it. Chilling to the bone and a great straight up Black Metal song. 9/10
08. One Day You Will Understand Why: I'm quite sad that this is the last song. The atmosphere has carried through to the very end nd now we find ourselves listening to a ghostly speech over some nice sound effects, a bit of guitar and a drum beat. Not as weird as some of the stuff on here. 7/10 // 10

Lyrics: As one downside of it being an experience more than a musical album, the singer, Tetsuo Unit BRJ (don't ask, I have no idea) is not on as much as I would have liked. He does have a very good voice though. The times when he is on are often the best parts of the album. I can't comment on the lyrics because I can't find them on the internet and as I bought it on iTunes I don't have the little booklet either. From what I can make out, they are equally as atmospheric and dark as the whole sound. // 8

Overall Impression: As I mentioned before, this is more more of an experience than an actual album. There are only a few songs that you can actually pick out and listen to on their own. If you're going to enjoy it, you need to sit down for an hour and actually listen. When you do, it's amazing. I have honestly never even come across a band like them. From start to finish you are gripped by a mix of horror and wonder. It takes skill for a band to actually captivate you for the length of an entire album and The Axis Of Perdition have really hit the nail on the head. // 10

Evil tardis, lawl.. Jay, thanks for finding me some perfect music to play Silent Hill to.
Or Devil May Cry. Or games that generally scare you to shit. First track is pretty gargantuan too, though not an overly huge black metal fan.